Multilingual Ecommerce: 5 Practical Ways to Achieve Worldwide Sales

If you run a B2B business, upgrading to a multilingual ecommerce site could give you the edge you need to achieve or improve worldwide sales. It’s fast, efficient, affordable and enables you to reach and serve customers across the globe.

There are many ways in which multilingual ecommerce can help you achieve worldwide sales. While the majority of content online is currently in English, there are many other languages used in searches every day. If you run a niche B2B business, it may even be that there is a gap in the market waiting for you to fill it, for a site like yours in a language other than your own.

1. Establish Your Global Brand with a Truly Global Site

   The first way to achieve worldwide sales is to establish your business as a global brand. You may already be a global B2B brand, but are you recognized as such? Upgrading to a professional, multilingual ecommerce site can indicate that your business is reputable, and make your international reach clear to all who access your site.

   Multilingual functionality, including the ability to select a preferred language from a dropdown menu, can help improve your credibility as a worldwide brand.

   The presence of country code top level domains, subdomains or subdirectories can also build trust with international users looking to confirm that your site truly does business in their home country.

   New customers may be more likely to convert if they can see that your brand is internationally renowned. According to Feedvisor’s 2019 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report, Amazon is a starting point for 66% of US consumers searching for new products. Of course, Amazon is the exception, but it is clear what having a worldwide reputation and reach can do for your business.

2. Help New Global Customers Find You with Improved SEO

   One way in which a multilingual ecommerce platform can help you achieve worldwide sales is through improving your SEO, to ensure you’re found by more people in more places.

   Google Favors Multilingual Sites

   When a user types a search into Google, the search engine takes into account the language they choose to use. In this sense, Google favors multilingual sites. If you have a multilingual ecommerce site, you may be more likely to appear in searches if you have content that matches the search terms in the user’s own language.

   Google even has some tips to help you manage your multilingual site for improved SEO. Google highlights the importance of allowing the user to change the page language, and creating different URLs for each language version of your site.

   Be Found by International Search Engines

   Having a multilingual ecommerce site could also improve how you rank on other search engines that dominate internationally. You might be surprised to learn that Google isn’t necessarily the search engine of choice across the globe. In China, Baidu is the most popular search engine, and there are plenty more to get excited about ranking on.

   Improve Local Search Results

   If your business has locations internationally that your customers might be looking for, a multilingual site can help them find you. With a multilingual site, you’re more likely to be found in the search results pages for searches that were made in a local language.

   Use Unique URLs and Benefit from More Content on Your Site

   Google loves websites with plenty of valuable content to share. If you choose to use a multilingual ecommerce platform, ensure every page on your site has its own URL. Instead of the familiar “.com”, you could end pages for users in the UK with the country code top level domain “.uk”, while pages for your German audience could end in “.de”. For example, if we made a German version of our site at roccommerce.de, these pages would be noted by Google as part of our roccommerce.com site. This way your site benefits from more pages, and more valuable content. The country code top level domain also clarifies for Google what language or version of a language you are using. You can benefit from the same effect using subdomains or subdirectories.

   Target More Keywords

   If you have any experience in SEO, you’ll know just how important keywords can be. Having a multilingual site enables you to target vastly more keywords. Perform keyword research and optimize your new content for keywords just as you would on your original version of your site.

3. Reach New Customers Internationally and Increase Sales

   There are few marketing methods that allow you to reach new customers globally, in their first language. In fact, creating a multilingual site is one of the few affordable ways to do so.

   Reach New Customers

   A multilingual website is an exceptional marketing tool with true potential. Moving from a site written in a single language to a multilingual ecommerce platform can help you reach new customers worldwide.

   According to Unbabel, of all content on the web 55.5% is written in English, despite the fact that speakers of English only make up 20% of the population globally, and those who are native speakers of English make up just 5%.

   With every language you add you are reaching a whole new target audience.

   Increase Conversion

   It may not be simply that you’re reaching new customers, but that those who find your website will be more likely to convert. From your own experience you may realize that you’re vastly more likely to convert on a website that is written in your first language.

   As published in the Harvard Business Review, Common Sense Advisory conducted a survey that found that:

   • The majority of consumers, 72.1%, use websites written in their first language all or most of the time.
   • 72.4% of participants reported that the likelihood of them purchasing a product would be greater if product information was available in their preferred language.
   • Product price was found to be less important than information in the users own language to 56.2% of participants surveyed.

4. Improve Global Customer Service Online

   Providing exceptional customer service online can help you improve worldwide sales. Providing your users with a multilingual ecommerce site that enables them to browse your products and learn about your business in their native language is one way to provide great customer service online.

   In Europe, many countries are known for their residents’ proficiency in English. However, it is clear that users still prefer content in their first language. While studying internet users in the EU, Gallup found that, with multiple language choices available, 9 out of 10 users would always choose to visit a website written in their native language. (page 5, Flash Eurobarometer 313)

   Include a Drop-Down Menu

   A multilingual ecommerce store is designed to provide a seamless experience to users, so that more people can read your content in the language of their choice. Your website should feature a drop-down menu where users can choose to change the language should they wish to.

   Get Ahead of the Game

   Typically, B2C sites are leading the way in terms of digital transformation. However, many B2B businesses are realizing the importance of catching up with B2C standards in terms of providing an exceptional online experience to their customers, partners and other users.

   As multilingual B2B sites become more commonplace, this is likely to move from being functionality that offers great customer service to a user expectation. Get ahead of the game now and wow your customers rather than struggling to catch up in the future.

   Providing great customer service online can go a long way to improving worldwide sales.

5. Stay Ahead of Competitors to Improve Worldwide Reach

Choosing a multilingual ecommerce platform could empower your business with an impressive site others in your industry aren’t yet prepared to compete with. A multilingual ecommerce platform could give you the edge that makes customers and partners choose to work with you over your competitors.

According to 99 Firms, putting the audience’s informational needs first is a tactic used by 90% of the most successful B2B content marketers. What could be more important, in terms of informational needs than providing content in your users’ native languages?

Users expect increasingly more from the websites they choose to do business with. Give your website the cutting edge it needs for a worldwide reach, with multilingual functionality.

The Multilingual Ecommerce Platform You Need

Choosing a multilingual ecommerce platform that can meet your individual business needs and provide a seamless user experience is essential. With the ROC Commerce platform you can run as many sites as you need, in as many languages as you choose. How much content and which merchandising rules are shared between sites is up to you.

The ROC Commerce platform is an easy-to-use, innovative solution for multi-lingual markets with a single currency, including the European Union, Canada and more.  

Contact us today to learn more about building a multilingual site on ROC Commerce.